Pious?
General information
The word pious is an adjective that comes from the noun piety. And it, in turn, comes from the words “good” and “honor”. What is the meaning of the word "pious"? In order to answer this question, it is worth trying to find synonyms for it. Namely: believer, religious, pious, righteous, God-loving, and so on.
A pious person is not one who regularly attends church, but one who lives in accordance with his conscience. The word whose meaning we are considering in this article appears quite often in the New Testament. That is why it is customary to look for its interpretation there. But first, according to tradition, you should look into Dahl's dictionary. What is the definition given in this book?
In Dahl's dictionary
To slightly paraphrase the interpretation given by Vladimir Dal, we can formulate following definition: A pious person is one who reveres divine truths. This adjective and words with the same root are rarely found in everyday speech today. You can hear them primarily in church.
Piety
The concept in Christian teaching is quite important. A pious person is a person who has the virtues characteristic of believers. But here it is worth clarifying some points. Piety can be both sincere and ostentatious. The latter involves performing all sorts of church rituals, but not meeting the requirements listed in the Gospel. A pious lifestyle is not the ability to withstand long hours of church services, but constant work on oneself, a continuous analysis of one’s own actions.
Odysseus
Homer lived long before the rise of Christianity. At the same time, in his most famous work- "Odyssey" - the word "pious" appears. The ancient Greek storyteller used this epithet in relation to the main character.
However, the author did not skimp on adjectives. His Odysseus is cunning, and many-minded, and wise, and long-suffering, and finally, pious. The meanings of these words, of course, are unequal. By calling the hero, who spent most of his life traveling, cunning and wise, the author hinted at his intelligence and dexterity. Speaking about the piety of Odysseus, his high reverence for the gods, who, as is known, Ancient Greece there were a lot.
What does "pious" mean? Able to carry out instructions given from above. And by whom they were already given (Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo or, perhaps, Allah), it is not so important.
Sayings of the greats
John Chrysostom said that piety causes disgust among sinners, and for some reason he recalled the parable of pigs who showed complete indifference to the brilliance and grace of pearls. In general, the famous theologian and preacher said a lot about one of the important Christian virtues. Of course, we will not cite all quotes from Chrysostom.
But what did people who were not directly involved in the church say about piety? They did not discuss such a topic very often, and if this happened, their words sometimes contained a certain amount of irony. One of the Bronte sisters once said that piety gives charm, but this virtue should not be abused. In one of his diaries, Fyodor Dostoevsky (without any irony) said that his family was Russian and pious. Probably, the writer meant that his father had nothing in common with such a character as Karamazov Sr.
Pious Martha
This is the name of the film released in 1980, and the work of the same name by the Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina. Who is Martha? Why did the author call her pious? The heroine of this works - girl, who with all her appearance demonstrated a desire to serve God. She often talked about how she wanted to help people, and as proof she treated the poor and was even going to open an infirmary.
Marta visited regularly Catholic Church and she used to convince others that she would never get married. Because she is obliged to preserve her innocence. But later it turned out that the girl’s piety was nothing more than hypocrisy. She, of course, was not a villain, but she was also quite far from sainthood. In general, Tirso de Molina's play is about ostentatious piety.
From a sermon at a service in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Maloyaroslavets
Let's read two verses from the epistle of James, a man of God, who wrote a little epistle, wonderfully teaching us, instructing the church of God and especially men in the church of God. The church has existed for two thousand years, and for two thousand years this Word has been read in churches so that brothers, men of God, can look at themselves in it, as in a mirror: “How can I live in the church? What do I do in church and how do I serve in general?”
The first chapter of the Epistle of James speaks of the test of true godliness, not just any kind of godliness, but true godliness, because everything is combined with the Truth. There is a measure for everything, and there is a measure for testing piety: “If any of you thinks that he is pious...” Well, and which of the brothers thinks that he is ungodly, then you need to go to the shepherds, open your insides in confession. “If anyone among you thinks that he is godly and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own heart, his religion is empty” (James 1:26).
This means that a person can think of himself that he is pious and ultimately realize that he has empty piety. Why? Because he does not bridle his tongue. An unbridled tongue defiles the inside, and the Holy Spirit has no place there. Often a person empties himself with his tongue. The tongue needs to be spiritually circumcised because the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart. In fact, you first need to cleanse your heart so that you can inwardly understand how full of godliness, true godliness it is.
You must be silent, refrain from speaking, do not give free rein to anger, irritation, and understand that the tongue is an external manifestation of what is hidden in the heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:34; Luke 6:45). What lives in our hearts is what our lips speak about. We need to listen to this short word and take it to heart, look at our condition and regulate it. Where am I with my tongue? The verse below also says: “ Pure and undefiled piety”, - and it is explained that there is pure and undefiled piety “before God and the Father.”
Intrinsic Factors of Godliness
You can appear modest, quiet, calm in front of people, without even raising your voice. This is external, but it says here: “... before God and the Father this is to look after the orphans and widows in their sorrows and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). Here are three internal factors:
1. Hold your tongue before God;
2. Before God, look after widows and orphans in their sorrows;
3. Keep yourself undefiled from this world.
Inner piety will be expressed in outer piety
This is true and pure piety. And this internal, if it exists, will be expressed in the external.
We find in the Holy Scriptures that there are widows who are talkative, fussy, going from house to house and talking about things that should not be said. Of course, Jacob does not mean such a widow, but a widow who, in her sorrow, having no husband, needs many things. If she is pious, humble, remains in prayer and fasting, performing these sad days before the Lord God the Father. He tells us about such widows Scripture. One of them, Anna, is the daughter of Fanuilov. It is written like this: “Anna was also there...” (Luke 2:36). Where is it? In the temple. She was always in the temple, serving God day and night under the blessed hand and grace of the priests, truly pious men, who kept her very for a long time and blessed. Being like this, being in the temple, she had no need for anything.
It is written about her like this: “There was also Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher, who had reached a very old age, having lived with her husband for seven years from her virginity...”
She became a widow at the age of 25, and perhaps even earlier, because Israeli women were married off early. And all subsequent years she served God in the temple, living a holy, God-fearing life. We must know in our churches such wonderful souls who, having left the life of this world, serve God purely. They have true godliness. This widow was about 84 years old.
It was revealed to her, like Simeon, about the birth of the Savior. And she, coming up, glorified the Lord and spoke about Him to all those who were waiting for deliverance in Jerusalem. She was deeply religious, knew the Word of God and waited with the priests. Using the example of the prophetess Anna, one can see what pious widows are and how they differ from them from the talkative ones who go from house to house and say things they shouldn’t. Godly widows also have godly orphans. They instruct them, teach them, bless them and educate them.
And pious men in the church of God should take care of such a widow, just as the priests took care of Anna, who was in the temple. We are talking about curbing the tongue. This is closely related to true godliness.
Therefore the question is asked: “Does a person want to live and loves long life in order to see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful words. Avoid evil and do good; seek peace and follow it"(Ps. 33:13-15).
This is what the Word of God teaches us, so you should do this not only in church, but everywhere: with outsiders, with government officials and with other people on whom the end of your life may even depend. You can speak out and inflame yourself so much in communication with this world that someone will take a stone, hit you on the head, and your existence on this earth will end.
In other words, the tongue is our enemy, and we must curb it.
It is written like this: “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful words. Avoid evil and do good; seek peace and follow it.” This instruction tells us to avoid evil, so that evil is not cultivated in us, and there is no evil in our hearts. We are from Christ, we are holy people, we must be like Him, and therefore there should be no evil in us.
Jacob writes: “If any of you suffers, let him pray...” (James 5:13). This can happen to Christians too. Evil may not be from within, but evil may be from without, tempting human life, so you need to be very careful in this direction. “Shun evil and do good; seek peace and follow it. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are on their cry. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to destroy the memory of them from the earth. They cry (the righteous), and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their sorrows. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the humble in spirit. The righteous man has many sorrows, and the Lord will deliver him from all of them.” (Ps. 33:15-20).
What do we know about the righteous? For example, righteous Lot suffered while living among the corrupt Sodom, seeing lawlessness and sin. The righteous man had nowhere to go. “Many are the sorrows of the righteous, and the Lord will deliver him from all of them” . Lot maintained a righteous life to the end, although he suffered. God watched over Sodom, and watched over Lot in Sodom, He saw everything and saved Lot from sinful Sodom. The Lord watches over everyone, over this whole world, and He watches over us too.
The Lord delivers the righteous from all sorrows. It is written like this: “He keeps all his bones; not one of them will be crushed. Evil will kill the sinner, and those who hate the righteous will perish. The Lord will deliver the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him will perish.” (Ps. 33:21-23). Here the writing of the Old Testament echoes what is written in the New Testament. On the cross of Calvary, Christ was crucified between two thieves. When on Friday evening they wanted to remove those executed from the crosses, their legs were broken, but Jesus Christ’s legs were not broken, since He had already died.
And the Word of God was fulfilled: "Let not His bone be broken" . And up to today The word is fulfilled exactly. About a righteous person it is said: “He keeps all his bones; not one of them will be crushed" . If we try to live a righteous life, we will be saved from a lot. And it all begins with our tongue, which speaks from the abundance of the heart. May the Lord bless us to pray to Him and say in our hearts: “Lord, look at my insides: do I have true piety or only external?”
If our brothers and sisters do not notice in the church of God where to show themselves, how to meet the needs of widows and orphans, then they simply do not understand the Lord Jesus Christ. It is necessary for the brothers to preach about this, and for the sisters to work. God encourages us to bear one another's burdens. Amen.
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Piety is a person’s way of life, thoughts, plans, words and actions aimed at good deeds. This is the ability of an individual to have a large stock of good deeds that have brought real benefits to people.
And this is not a priest’s word! Piety is the counting of your good deeds. This is one of the basic concepts that you must know. This account is spent on the person's own needs. The more good deeds you do, the more you can satisfy your own needs. Pious actions are the basis of your life!
For example, a person comes material well-being, financial independence. The Invisible Heavenly Bank, gives a person excellent health, finances family happiness, accompanies Luck - this is justified gratitude to this person for
Luck is the opportunity to receive some benefits for your previously accumulated Piety, demonstrated Kindness and Caring for people. The favorites of luck are those who have previously sown good things. A person who sows good in one place gets good luck in another place. This is how they act laws of the Universe, in particular law of justice. It’s not for nothing that people say: “Do good and throw it into the water.” Good is done unselfishly, otherwise it is not good, but a commercial transaction.
Luck sometimes finds a person not where he has done good. Luck can manifest itself in the most bizarre and unexpected forms. The main thing is that luck is the result of kindness shown, accumulated piety. People usually perceive luck as a kind of freebie, as something that just fell on their head.
Nothing happens by chance in the world. First give your energy to people, Kindness, Respect,, accumulate funds in the Piety account, and only then can you count on good luck.
When the supply of good deeds in the current account ends, life does not meet a person halfway, a black streak begins for him, which lasts until he replenishes his piety account.
It happens that a person who is under the power of the energy of Ignorance already has large reserves of Piety from the past, which he accumulated earlier, perhaps in past life. It should be noted that the remainder of the Pious Account passes into the next life. When a person dies, he cannot take money or material goods with him into his future life. He came naked and leaves naked. But the remainder in the account of Piety passes from life to life.
A person, for example, receives a successful birth in a good family, in a prosperous country. Therefore, the stock of Piety can be completely different people. In a past life he was like Mother Teresa, and now he is a bank robber, a greedy oligarch, a corrupt official.
He robbed a bank and got away with it, robbed it several more times and got away with it again. And a person develops the illusion of his Impunity, incredible Luck, that he is the Conspiracy One. And finally, the supply of Piety ran out and the man was caught committing another Selfish crime.
Criminals constantly live by the principle “stole - drank - go to prison.” The period of amazing luck can last quite a long time and depends on the reserves of Piety of this or a past life.
And sometimes there is such a simple case - “stole - goes to prison.” There are no reserves of Piety, so go straight to prison. In a word, if there is no Piety left in the account, life forces a person to think about how to live correctly, how to get out of a personal crisis. By taking the path of goodness, a person can again count on success.
Having taken the path of evil with a zero Piety account, he drives himself into a “red” balance, and his life turns into one continuous suffering.
Any person should always ask himself questions: - I want to have a house, a luxury car, a yacht. Do I have the right to do this?
Is my desire to become a millionaire justified and fair? If you want to have a lot of money, take care of the power of Piety and good deeds. If Piety did not come to you by inheritance from past lives, you need to do everything possible in this life.
Good deeds never go into vain. Do Good, and then your dream of becoming a millionaire can come true.
How to determine your piety, passed on from past lives?
If, for example, a person was born into a poor family or into a family where scandals, drunkenness and fights are commonplace, then he has problems with his reserves of piety. It is necessary to concentrate on the Good, perform only Pious deeds, that is, earn yourself a bank of piety here and now!
What good deeds contribute to one's piety account?
First of all, by helping other people and living beings. A compassionate person does not just sigh sadly around the sufferer, but tries to provide him with real, reasonable help. Your demonstrated qualities will help. By helping others, we become Pious and, thereby, attract success and luck into our own lives.
Significant revenues to the current account of Piety come from the dissemination of true knowledge and truthful information.
Piety increases by helping parents, teachers and older people in general. Significant revenues to the account of piety come from charity, hospitality, and cleanliness.
A godly person lives as if he is being watched every second by a strict moral inspector. Before doing something, a pious person automatically thinks about what to do. Therefore, a pious person is .
What is integrity? This is the ability to follow moral standards, the requirements of the laws of the Universe, this is the inability to Low actions, unethical behavior towards close people or rivals in a difficult situation for them. Decent man- this is the one who learned to be God on Earth.
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Modern practice of Orthodox piety. Volume 2 Pestov Nikolay Evgrafovich
Chapter 4 Examples of the life of Christians in the world
Examples of the life of Christians in the world
...Live quietly, do your own thing and work with your own hands.
What should be the foundations of life for Christians who remain in the world, but who decide here too to follow Christ with unwavering feet?
We can take examples of life in the world for Christians from the lives of the Old Testament righteous, from the first Christian Church before the emergence of monasticism, and from the lives of lay saints glorified by the Church and similar devotees of piety.
There seems to be nothing outstanding in the life of the forefathers of the Jewish people. They lived the ordinary life of a family man, and we do not see them performing feats of fasting, intense prayer and vigils.
However, the Holy Scriptures glorify them. And he glorifies them, among other things, for the fact that, living among corrupt pagan foreigners and among temptations, they did not lose their faith in the One God and kept themselves undefiled by worldly vice.
It wasn't easy. The Apostle Peter says this about the life of Lot in Sodom: “And he delivered the righteous Lot, tired of being treated among violently depraved people - for this righteous man, living among them, was tormented daily in his righteous soul, seeing and hearing lawless deeds.” (2 Pet. 2:7–8).
In this regard, Archbishop. Arseny (Chudovskoy) writes in his diary:
“Good Christians often complain about the difficulty of life in the world among temptations, vices, corruption and vanity. But do you know, Christian, that through sorrows and deeds you must enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Far from the world, you need fasting, kneeling, constant vigilance over yourself for salvation; in the world, if you do not resist temptations, endure and suffer from the depraved world around you, you are a kind of martyr, and know that each of your tears, each of your sighs emitted from the oppression of the depraved world is worth many feats and fasts. The martyrs for Christ endured visible persecution, suffering and oppression from their tormentors, and you, living in the midst of a corrupt world, also suffer oppression; but not physical, but moral... And you are also a martyr!!!”
Obviously, for modern Christians living in an environment of a corrupt world and atheists, the thought should serve as consolation that just preserving one’s faith and saving oneself from the vice that reigns around will be appreciated by God as a certain spiritual achievement.
From the life of the family of the forefather of the Jewish people, Abraham, in addition to hospitality, we should learn from the mutual relationship of Abraham and Sarah.
Ap. Peter writes: “So once upon a time the holy women who trusted in God adorned themselves by being submissive to their husbands. So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him master." (1 Pet. 3:5–6).
Deep mutual respect and the mutual designation of spouses “master” and “mistress” were also present in the family of the first Christians, as can be seen from the biography of Sts. martyrs Adrian and Natalia (August 26, old style).
For those living in the world, a model of burning spirit and at the same time isolation from the life of the world should be the Church of the 1st century, founded by the apostles and described in the Acts of the Apostles and their epistles.
What was different about the lives of these Christians? They accompanied all their deeds with prayer. Before undertakings or travels, they added fasting to prayer. The Christians of the first Jerusalem community had all their property in common - there were no rich people, since everyone who owned estates sold them and gave the money to the apostles, that is, they contributed it to the community.
There was a living connection between the individual communities, and the need of one community always evoked offerings and help from other communities.
As is known, the first Christians had long night services and received communion every day. They had a common meal, which followed the service. Everyone was in strict obedience to the apostles or the elders appointed by them.
Their life was isolated from those who did not believe in Christ and, as it is written in Acts, “no one dared to pester them.” (5, 13) . Essentially it was a monastery in the world that united all Christians along with their families.
The life of the first Christian family developed under the direct influence of the apostles and especially the Apostle Paul. The latter recommended that Christians “live quietly, do their own thing and work with their own hands” (1 Thess. 4:11).
This quietness of life was expressed primarily in the isolation of the life of Christian communities, in the absence of close connections (except for the outwardly necessary) with the surrounding corrupted pagan world.
This is repeatedly stated in the apostolic epistles.
As an example of the life of the first period of Christianity, we can take the family of St. Gregory the Theologian. According to the latter’s stories, his mother Nonna never shook hands with a pagan woman and did not sit down at the table to eat food with pagans.
The patriarchal families of the early Christians lived secluded lives out of fear harmful influence on the children of the surrounding world.
So, for example, St. Philaret the Merciful raised his granddaughter, who later became the empress (the wife of the Constantinople Emperor Constantine IV Porphyrogenitus), in such a way that he could tell the emperor’s ambassadors about her: “Before you, she had never seen anyone outside.”
Of course, such a degree of isolation is impossible in the social conditions of modern life. At the same time, isolation makes sense only if true piety reigns in the family and there is a circle of spiritually close people with whom the family lives in close communication.
Otherwise, the younger generation of the family would become burdened by isolation, and the latter would embitter the children and turn them against their parents.
But just as in monasteries the highest spiritual levels are reached by solitaries and hermits, so among Christian families only those who have managed to isolate themselves from close contact with the corrupted world around them will prosper spiritually and create for themselves a circle of close, highly spiritual people.
The features of closed life passed from the first Christians and Byzantium into the life of the old Russian Orthodox family.
Christians of the first centuries were prohibited by the Church from participating in pagan feasts.
Christians usually also avoided participating in public entertainment - visiting theaters, the circus, etc.
“You can live in peace, but not in the south, but live quietly,” said the elder Fr. Ambrose.
And there is hardly any need for special proof of the truth that where “the path is wide,” condemned by the Lord (Matt. 7:13) Where there is laughter, where there is noise of entertainment and distracted life, there will be no concentrated prayer and the feat of “carrying the cross,” there will be no breath of the Holy Spirit of God.
The lives of the New Testament saints also give us, though not numerous, but vivid images of the saints of God who did not leave the world.
We have already talked above about two Alexandrian married women, whose virtues St. was sent to learn. The Great Macarius of Egypt (see part 3).
Several examples of laity who pleased God are also found in the biography of the 4th century Egyptian ascetic Paphnutius, about whom Bishop Palladius, the author of Lavsaik, wrote (as well as church writers and historians of the first centuries Rufinus, Sozontus and Nikephoros).
After a period of prolonged asceticism in the desert, Paphnutius began to pray to God to reveal to him which of the men known for his holiness he was like.
In answer to his prayer, an angel appeared to him and told him that he was like a flute player living in the city.
Paphnutius went to the city, found a flutist he knew and began asking about his life.
The flutist told him that he had previously been a robber and had many sins on his soul. Only about two good deeds The flutist began to talk. Once he saved a Christian girl from robbers and brought her to the village.
Another time he found a hungry woman in the desert and fed her. Having learned that she was in poverty because her husband was in prison for debts and her sons had been sold, he ransomed her husband and children.
After this incident, Paphnutius began to lead an even harsher life in the desert. A few years later, he again began to ask God to reveal to him which of the saints he was like.
Again an answer was received from God that he was like the elder of the nearest village. Paphnutius immediately went to him.
The foreman received Paphnutius with great cordiality, washed his feet and offered him a meal. Paphnutius told the elder that his virtues were valued by God above many ascetics and monks and asked him to tell him about himself.
The elder replied that he was a sinful man and unworthy of the name of a monk. In response to Paphnutius’ persistent requests, the foreman told the following about himself:
“I have a wife and three sons. After their birth, my wife and I have been living in abstinence for thirty years. When a stranger comes to a village, I receive him before other villagers. When sending a wanderer, I provide him with everything necessary for the journey.
If I find out about someone poor and unfortunate, I try to help and console him. I am wary of strangers and do not allow my livestock to reach other people’s pastures. No one can say anything unkind about my sons.
There was no hostility in the village that I could not reconcile. He did not allow the rich to oppress the poor. He provided his fields to others, using only the remains after them. I didn’t upset or judge anyone.”
Returning to the desert, Paphnutius began to fast and strive even more. Then for the third time he began to pray to God to reveal to him who he was like. Again I received the answer that now he is like an Alexandrian merchant who is now approaching his cell.
Paphnutius immediately went out to meet the guest. It was a rich merchant who carried Paphnutia and his sons ten bags of vegetables. He was known for giving all his income from trade to the poor and monks.
On the advice of Paphnutius, all three husbands described above ended their lives in the monastic rite. The bright fate that they would inherit in the Heavenly Kingdom was revealed to Paphnutius.
In this example, it is important to understand why the flute player, a former robber, stood higher in virtue than the strict ascetic and what dignity the virtues of these three laymen had.
The flutist performed his first two good deeds while still a robber. To save the girl, he had to quarrel with his comrades and embitter them against himself, which, of course, was a difficult task and required great courage.
In the second case, he had to spend a lot of money to buy out the debtor and his children, and spend, perhaps, all his savings. This probably required an internal struggle from the robber.
Essentially, the flutist also accomplished a third great deed: he broke with the robbers - his comrades - and began to earn his living in an honest way. To do this, he also had to endure internal struggles. In this case, he became like the “prodigal son” from the Gospel parable, and the words of the Lord were fulfilled: “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7).
The second of the laity - the elder of the village - is already a perfect Christian, carefully fulfilling the commandments of Christ, starting with mercy, and spends his life in abstinence.
Achieving this in the world is much more difficult than saving yourself in the desert, where there are no temptations, where you can see examples of the jealousy of other brothers and there are highly spiritual leaders.
The third of the laity - the Alexandrian merchant - rises above the foreman in that he serves God not only himself, but with his sons, and does not do good to the wanderers who visited him (like the elder), but to those who are most dear and close to God - monks and hermits. To do this, he and his sons go into the desert to serve them. Here he most perfectly fulfilled the commandment of mercy, since, in the words of the Apostle Paul: “Let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of our own in the faith.” (Gal. 6, 10). And when serving the “righteous”, the “reward of the righteous” is also promised. (Matt. 10:41–42).
Here is another example of a holy layman, previously mentioned - St. Philaret the Merciful (December 1), who devoted his entire life to works of mercy and the exact fulfillment of the commandment “Give to him who asks of you” (Matt. 5:42).
Before becoming the emperor's son-in-law, St. Filaret gave to those in need both his last pair of oxen and the grain reserves that he himself had borrowed to feed his family.
The image of the holy laywoman is remarkable - the wife of the Murom governor, the mother of fourteen children of St. Juliania Lazarevskaya, who lived in the 16th century (January 2).
Like the holy women of the first Church, she knew how to combine in her life caring for family and children and widespread charity with the feat of intense prayer and fasting. She began the latter as a girl and gradually strengthened them throughout her life, devoting her nights to prayer. She got up to pray at night even when she was sick.
Also from an early age she showed concern for poor orphans and the sick. Before getting married, she devoted all her time to sewing clothes for them, or sold her embroidery to distribute money to the poor.
She never used the services of servants, and did not even allow anyone to give her water to wash her hands. She paid special attention to ensuring that there were no quarrels and abuse in the family and between the servants, and when there was a need, she took the blame upon herself, just to bring peace to the family. When the servants committed misdeeds, she tried to cover up their guilt without telling her father-in-law and mother-in-law about it. When her skill and strength were not enough to cope with the servants and establish silence in the house, she fervently prayed to the Mother of God and St. Nicholas, asking for their help.
The strength of the spirit of St. Juliania was especially evident in difficult times - during the famine of 1570–1572. She intensified her alms and did not finish eating herself in order to distribute more bread. When the grain supplies in her house ran out, she ordered the servants to collect quinoa and elm bark and from them prepared bread, which she fed the family with and which she distributed to the poor.
The latter said: “We get bread from others from one flour, but no one had it as sweet as this widow.” So, apparently for everyone, the Lord helped His faithful servant in her good deeds.
Here are a few more examples from the life of ancient Christian Rus'.
Vladimir Monomakh used to pray at night with bows to the ground and said that by this a person defeats the devil and is cleansed of sins committed during the day. He usually got up before sunrise.
Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky went to church at night, lit candles, prostrated himself before the icons and cried about his sins.
Prince Dimitri Donskoy received communion every week during Lent. He secretly wore a hair shirt.
Dr. Haase should also be included among the righteous among the laity. His life, his works and all his thoughts were dedicated to the disadvantaged and unfortunate. In particular, he did a lot for the prisoners. Before him, prisoners wore very heavy shackles, and when sent on foot to Siberia, they were shackled in batches. He achieved the replacement of heavy shackles with light ones and the abolition of shackles.
His favorite thing to do was visit prisons, console and help prisoners. He taught the prisoners to believe in God, to pray, and distributed thousands of Gospels and religious books to them. Often he himself accompanied the exiles on foot several miles from Moscow.
At the beginning of his activities in Russia, he was rich - he had a factory, an estate near Moscow and rode in a carriage of six horses. During his life, he sold both the factory and the estate, traveled by carriage, and spent all his money on prisoners and the poor. He also gave almost all of his salary to the prisoners, and therefore died in poverty and was buried at the expense of the treasury.
He not only treated all his poor patients for free, but, while visiting them, he himself helped them financially. The strength of his love for the unfortunate and the burning of his heart were such that everyone bowed to his concerns for the prisoners, from Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow to Emperor Nicholas I, who released elderly prisoners from prison at the request of Dr. Haase.
The following are examples of godly Christian families almost contemporary to our own.
Elder Fr. Alexy Mechev spoke about his parents’ family like this:
“My mother had six children, and we lived in two rooms. When her sister's widower husband died, she did not hesitate to take in five more orphans and began to treat them even better than she treated us. This love, this example affected me for the rest of my life.
Afterwards, when my father entered the service and had large apartment, after all, we were always full of people - brothers, matchmakers and many others. And everyone always found shelter, walked and knew that they would be reassured, they were always received with joy. When I was finishing my course, I didn’t have a separate room: I had to get up at night to study.
All this gave me good example for life. Life with the people, among the people is my soul, I am happy here. I can’t see when someone is crying, when someone is in grief, you fly there like an arrow, you want to cry with them. I owe all this to my mother.”
Another example is the family of a Siberian district judge, described in the 1st part of “Frank Tales of a Wanderer.”
It was the custom of this family to welcome strangers into their home, feed them, provide them with everything they needed, and give them lodging for the night. At the same time, both husband and wife tried to personally serve the wanderers, including washing their feet. The husband greeted strangers with a Christian kiss.
At their own expense, they maintained a beggar house, where up to ten crippled and sick people always lived. On Sundays and holidays they organized lunch for the poor. Usually, their servants always dined with them at the table. Children were accustomed to bringing strangers and beggars into the house.
Reading the biographies of foreign ascetics of piety can also provide a lot of useful information.
These include, for example, the biographies of such great people as the Belgian priest Doman de Wessler, a friend of lepers; the English philanthropist Georg Müller, who devoted his entire life to the construction of numerous orphanages; Italian priest Don Bosco - father of the poor, widows and orphans.
Mention must also be made of Barbara Johnson, whose house near New York served as a refuge and refuge for numerous beggars, unfortunates and sick people; about Jeanne Zhuzan, through whose efforts a society was organized in France, which established 217 almshouses and cared for 25,000 poor, crippled and sick people.
If monks consider prayer and all kinds of abstinence to be the main means of salvation, then for a layman, as can be seen from the above examples, this will most of all be service to others and acts of charity.
Their meaning is such that St. John Chrysostom said that it is not so much the poor who need the rich as the rich (the laity) who need the poor.
The Lord says: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). At the same time, sometimes accepting gifts not only does not enrich the layman, but is even dangerous. This can be seen from the following story.
One monk had a lay brother, a poor man, and he gave everything he produced to his brother. But this one became poorer the more the monk gave him.
Seeing this, the monk went to a certain elder and told him about what had happened.
The elder answered: “If you want to listen to me, don’t give him anything else, but tell him: “Brother, when I had it, I gave it to you, now you work and whatever you earn, give it to me.” Whatever he brings to you, accept from him and give to some wanderer or needy elder, asking them to pray for him.”
The monk followed this instruction. When a lay brother came to him, he did as the elder had commanded him, and the lay brother left him sad.
But then, after some time, he comes and brings several vegetables from the garden. The monk, having accepted them, gave them to the elders, asking them to pray for his brother.
Some time later, a layman brought vegetables and three loaves of bread. The monk, having accepted them, acted as he did the first time. The third time the layman brought him a lot of food, wine, and fish. The monk, seeing this, was surprised and said to his lay brother: “Don’t you need a few loaves?” He answered: “No, Master, before, when I took something from you, it entered my house like fire and devoured it; but now, although I receive nothing from you, I have everything in abundance and God has blessed me.”
The lifestyle of saints and lay devotees of piety may seem strange to some and contrary to currently accepted customs. But for Christians, it was not without reason that the Apostle Paul said: “Be foolish in order to be wise.” (1 Cor. 3:18).
And may such “crazy” laypeople, who do not follow the world around them, live in peace in spiritual peace and rejoice in the Lord.
They will one day hear the words of the Lord addressed to them: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you accepted Me; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me." (Matt. 25, 34–36).
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On the day of remembrance of the parents of the great saint of the Russian land, we will talk about raising children. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna Romanova wrote: “Parents should be what they want their children to be - not in words, but in deeds. They must teach their children by the example of their lives.”
Below is a chapter from the book “Orthodox Education of Children” by Nikolai Evgrafovich Pestov.
A tree is known by its fruit...
Do parents understand how much the formation of a child’s character and inclinations depends on themselves? And do they know when their influence on the child’s soul begins? The answer to the second question is the following story. The family of one venerable priest had 14 children. The bride of one of her sons, who was also preparing to become a priest, once asked her future mother-in-law: “All your children are so good, but why is M. (her fiance) the only one special?” “It’s no coincidence,” mother answered, “before M.’s conception, the priest put on an epitrachelion and prayed especially earnestly for the unborn child.”
This is when the spiritual care of parents for their children begins. After conception has occurred, the life of the child is inseparable from the life of the mother, not only physically, but also entirely mentally.
The mother's lifestyle during fruiting, as well as during breastfeeding, leaves a deep imprint on the spiritual face of the unborn child. Particularly pious mothers knew this well in the old days. So, mother of St. Sergius of Radonezh, after the baby cried out three times in her womb during the solemn parts of the liturgy, she stopped eating meat, wine, fish, milk and ate bread, herbs and water.
According to one elder, carnal incontinence while breastfeeding affects the development of voluptuousness in a child, which can manifest itself even at a very early age.
And, observing the development of bad inclinations in children, let mothers ask themselves whether the spiritual weakness and errors that possessed them during pregnancy and lactation were reflected in their children.
It should be noted that in pious families, especially highly spiritual children were born in the mature and even old age of their parents, when the latter’s passions were overcome and the spirit was peaceful. So, the children of elderly parents were Mother of God- Virgin Mary, John the Baptist of the Lord, Patriarch Isaac and many of the great saints.
The spirit of the family is what primarily shapes the soul of a growing child. Hence there is a very close connection between the souls of parents and children. Bishop Theophan the Recluse writes: “There is a connection, incomprehensible to us, between the souls of parents and the souls of children.”
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree - that's what folk wisdom says.
When choosing a bride and groom, the Optina elder Leonid gave this general advice: judge the groom by his father, and the bride by his mother, considering that the parents have already fully identified inclinations that are not yet clear enough in their children.
The Bible speaks of the deep bond between parents and children. In the Book of Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, it is written: “His father died - and as if he had not died, for he left behind him like himself.” (30, 4). And further: “A man is known in his children” (11, 28).
The Lord Himself, in denouncing the Pharisees, says: “You testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who beat the prophets.” (Matt. 23:31). In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord says: “By their fruits you will know them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matt. 7:16-18). But in relation to parents, children should be considered as their fruits, which God Himself entrusted to them to grow.
Numerous examples of the direct dependence of children on the dignity of their parents are found in the history of the Universal Church. The deep piety of the parents usually resulted in the high spiritual merits of the children. The story tells of entire families in which all the children were distinguished by high piety.
Such were, for example, in the Old Testament the family of the seven Maccabee martyrs (2Mak. 7), in Novy - the family of the martyr Felitsata (January 25), all seven of whose sons died as confessors of Christ; three daughters of martyr. Sofia (September 17); the family of the parents of Basil the Great, which gave out of ten children three saints (Basily the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste), the Monk Macrina and two saints in the second and third generations; family of Gregory the Theologian's parents; the family of the Moscow merchant Putilov, who gave abbots to three monasteries; the family of Schemamonk Philip, whose three sons followed their father to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and many others.
You can find examples that pious children were also from wicked parents (for example, the Great Martyr Barbara), but it is hardly possible to find cases when the piety of both parents would not have a consequence high merits for their children.
It should be borne in mind, however, that the degree of piety may vary and it may happen that the spiritual weakness of one of the spouses will weaken to some extent all or some of the children.
In the Acts of St. The apostles tell how an angel appears to the pious pagan centurion Cornelius, who has gained favor with God through prayer and alms, and commands him to call the apostle. Peter and promises: in the words of the latter, “you and your whole house will be saved.” (Acts 10:6). So, the mercy of God and the guarantees of salvation extend not only to the righteous, but also to the whole house - his family and his children.
Therefore, the main concern for parents should be to gain the mercy of God and His help and blessings. And this will be a condition for the indispensable success of many years of work and struggle for the salvation of the souls of children subject to sin along with the entire fallen human race.
“The righteous walketh in his integrity: blessed are his children after him!” - the wise Solomon testifies (Prov. 20:7). And Bishop Theophan the Recluse writes: “The spirit of faith and piety of parents should be revered as the most powerful means for preserving and nurturing and strengthening a grace-filled life in children” (“The Path to Salvation”).
